What walking from Washington to New York reveals about America
Some pretty great things, it turns out
How vexing to the masters of America’s Northeast megalopolis that the transit system has failed to compress the tedious 225-mile interval between Washington and New York. If the gods smile on the journey—and they seldom do—the tract houses, big-box stores and occasional gleam of water or shadow of forest might blur past in four hours by car on Interstate 95, or three hours by what passes for a high-speed train, the Acela. Flying can take as long, given Uber rides and security queues. More often, some idly tossed thunderbolt snarls transit, prompting travellers to curse their fate, postpone their meetings and despair over America’s odds against China, with its bullet trains and other irritating proofs of competence.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline ““Be not conformed to this world””
United States May 6th 2023
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